How to: Create the Best Meal Plan

Hi friends! Happy hump day!

If you remember back to this time last week, we were in the thick of a big time product release! Today, we’re talking through the best practices for writing a great meal plan! We want to talk through the “must do’s” and the “try to do’s”, that go into making the best type of Meal Plan. Of course you should consider whether or not you want to share this list of meals and recipes with friends. If these are your tip top secret recipes that you don’t care to put out into the world- then you probably won’t need to worry about all of these tips. On the other hand though, if Meal Plan sharing IS you jam, we think these small tips and tricks will help make your Meal Plans shine. And who knows, maybe they’ll go viral! In case you missed it, last Wednesday, we released a big update in the Meal Plans feature on our app! You are now able to create, compile, write, share, and comment on iTrackBites Meal Plans! Based on a recent Instagram poll, we know that a lot of the members haven’t actually updated their app to enjoy this feature. We highly recommend spending a few minutes to update and get the most that iTrackBites Meal Plans has to offer!

Plan Your Plan

The truth of the matter is that creating a great Meal Plan takes just that- a plan! Who is this plan geared towards? How many unique recipes will be in this? How many recipes should repeat themselves? Is there a theme to these meals? How many days should it last? Does the name of this plan reflect its content? Planning out those simple, yet helpful, topics will render a much better Meal Plan result than the lack thereof! It’s also productive to go ahead and explain that process and those details in the Meal Plan description! A little bit of intention and effort go a long way!

A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words

This is a step that’s actually not necessary, but is oh so helpful! We’ve designed this update to auto-generate a cover photo for your meal plans if you don’t have one to use. However, the photo that we choose, doesn’t always coincide the best with your personal concoctions. The next time that you make one of the recipes included in the plan, snap a pic! It’s so easy to imagine whether or not you’ll enjoy a Meal Plan when you can visualize exactly what it entails.

Serving Size Not Included

Something really important to think about in the actual recipe creation and selection process, is serving size. It’s important to be precise yet realistic on the amount of certain ingredients, and how much of the dish one person will probably eat. Accurately writing measurements in the recipe builder not only helps with the quality of the Meal Plan itself, but it also plays a big role in the grocery list feature of the Meal Plans. It’s safe to say that we could all use a little bit of grocery list help, once in a while!

Sharing is Caring

Last, but certainly not least, is the (new!!) sharing component of Meal Plans! We were so excited to release this feature, as it was a very frequently requested add-on. Most everyone was interested in creating their own Meal Plans, but it was surprising and exciting to hear that most of those same users were interested in writing Meal Plans for friends and family rather than only themselves! There are a few ways that this feature comes to life. After creating and saving your own plan, you can tap the three little dots in the right corner. You’ll then be prompted to share your Meal Plan. You can either share it directly with the community groups that you’re in. Or, you can send a link of the Meal Plan to friends and family straight from your phone. This will of course prompt your people to create an iTrackBites account, to fully engage in your plan. But hey- the more the merrier! :) So- are you ready to update your app and write some Meal Plans?? Comment below if you have any questions on Meal Plans and we’ll happily answer them! Happy Tracking!